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The BP Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in 2010, causing the deaths of eleven workers and the destruction of the surrounding environment and wildlife. The federal trial begins today in New Orleans under U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier, and it will determine exactly how much money BP owes in penalties.

Just days after announcing job cuts citing uncertainty in the global oil industry, Schlumberger Ltd. announced a deal to purchase a minority stake in one of Russia's leading energy companies. Analysts largely lauded the deal, which further links companies that have worked together since 2011 and signals Schlumberger's intent to grow in the region.

Truckloads of drinking water were being shipped to the eastern Montana city of Glendive on Monday after traces of a major oil spill along the Yellowstone River were detected in public water supplies, raising concerns about a potential health risk.

The amount of oil discharged into the Gulf of Mexico as a result of a 2010 rig explosion was more than BP estimated, but less than the government calculated, a federal judge determined Thursday in a ruling that could cost the London-based oil giant more than $13 billion.

The school said the new degree program will focus on horizontal fracking practices and will prepare students for jobs in planning, development and the operation of oil and natural gas extraction and processing facilities.

How many Olympic-sized swimming pools does ExxonMobil produce enough oil to fill each day? If ExxonMobile was a country, how big would its economy be? Check out these five incredible facts about the multinational oil and gas corporation.

There's been a lot of noise about OPEC's role in the current decline of oil prices — but UAE Energy Minister, Suhail al-Mazrouei says shale producers should be "rational" about their output and that the market may not be suitable for them.

The world burns enough oil-derived fuels to drain an Olympic-sized swimming pool four times every minute. Global consumption has never been higher — and is rising. Yet the price of a barrel of oil has fallen by more than half over the past six months because the globe, experts say, is awash in oil.

According to Nager's January 2015 report, "It is easy to get the impression that American manufacturing has entered a new and exciting period of revival. Many in the media, along with consulting firms and economists, now tout the term 'manufacturing renaissance' to describe this so-called revival...If only that were true."

A newly released study found water discharged from energy drilling operations in the U.S. poses risks to human health and the environment,calling for additional government regulations on the practices.

Federal officials estimate the prices of crude oil will fall slightly this year compared to late 2014 before rebounding in 2016. The U.S. Energy Information Administration's short-term energy outlook projects the average monthly price of crude on the Brent index at $58 per barrel in 2015, down from the December average of $62 per barrel.

For some, dropping oil prices are a blessing — but the plummet has given oil-industry folks plenty to gripe about. Consumers, meanwhile, have seen the decreasing gas prices as cause for celebration, but are consumers busting out the party supplies to soon?

Surf's up on the North Sea, and as this video shows, the waves can be big enough to rough up even a large offshore drilling rig. Filmed by an offshore worker on the nearby platform, (around 145 miles east of Aberdeen, Scotland), this footage captures the stomach-churning awe of large waves crashing into a rig owned by Dolphin Drilling.

A plunge in the price of gasoline over the past six months has drastically changed the result of the calculation new car buyers and drivers perform every week: How much is it going to cost me to fill this thing up? The national average price of gasoline Monday was $2.13 a gallon, according to AAA, after falling for a record 109 days in a row. Six months ago it was $3.63 a gallon.

Just two years ago, this Texas town known mostly for its annual rattlesnake roundup seemed to be on the brink of a transformation. Expecting a huge influx of oil workers, local leaders spent tens of millions of dollars to improve the courthouse, build a new law-enforcement center and upgrade the hospital. Hotels, truck stops and housing subdivisions were to follow, all catering to truck drivers and roughnecks.

The oil boom that lifted home prices in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana is coming to an end. Crude oil prices have crashed since June, falling by more than 54 percent to less than $50 a barrel. That swift drop has started to cripple job growth in oil country, creating a slow wave that in the years ahead may devastate what has been a thriving real estate market.

An environmental advocacy group sued the Obama administration in federal court on Thursday for refusing to release documents detailing the extent of fracking in the Gulf of Mexico. Samantha Joye, a marine sciences professor at the University of Georgia who studies effects of oil spills on the sea environment, said there have been no scientific studies looking at fracking chemicals in the ocean.

As House Republicans prepared to pass legislation Friday to authorize construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, Nebraska's highest court removed a major obstacle to the project and a major reason behind President Barack Obama's opposition to the bill.

With all the talk of falling oil prices and its effect on the global economy, companies and consumers are keeping a close eye on the fluctuating gas prices. This week, GasBuddy has released its GasBuddy Fuel Price Outlook 2015. The report forecasts monthly gas averages and dives into the factors affecting the prices.

On Monday research published online by the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America linked March 2014 earthquakes in Poland Township, Ohio to hydraulic fracking. The next day, as if the earth beneath the U.S. wanted to say, “Told you so,” the ground began to rattle Texans in their boots.

California broke ground on its $68 billion high-speed rail system, promising to combat global warming while whisking travelers between Los Angeles and San Francisco in less than three hours. "We can afford it. In fact, we cannot NOT afford it," said Gov. Jerry Brown.

Control of the United States Senate changed hands this week, but that appears unlikely to change the fortunes of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline following a veto threat from the White House. Shortly after the introduction of a new Senate bill to authorize construction of the pipeline, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said the president would not support the current measure.

Oil giant Shell has agreed to pay a Nigerian fishing community 55 million pounds (about $83.5 million) for the worst oil spill in Nigeria, an unprecedented settlement that experts say could open a floodgate of litigation there and abroad.

U.S. home values rose at a measured pace in November, a sign that demand remains weak as many buyers have been priced out of the market. The housing market faces an affordability crunch. Many potential buyers were sidelined by double-digit home price gains in 2013, which eclipsed average wage growth of roughly 2 percent.

You don't have to think hard to imagine why cleaning up an oil spill would be daunting — millions of gallons of oil floating in miles of ocean waters, dispersed by waves, weather and wildlife. The good news is that oil gathers in plumes, and one scientist is working on a way to remove those plumes from the water more efficiently. His secret? Magnets.